Skin smoothing effects of Dead Sea minerals: comparative profilometric evaluation of skin surface

Current Trends on Seaweeds: Looking at Chemical Composition, Phytopharmacology, and Cosmetic Applications

Seaweeds have received huge interest in recent years given their promising potentialities. Their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, hypolipemic, and anticoagulant effects are among the most renowned and studied bioactivities so far, and these effects have been increasingly associated with their content and richness in both primary and secondary metabolites. Although primary metabolites have a pivotal importance such as their content in polysaccharides (fucoidans, agars, carragenans, ulvans, alginates, and laminarin), recent data have shown that the content in some secondary metabolites largely determines the effective bioactive potential of seaweeds. Among these secondary metabolites, phenolic compounds feature prominently. The present review provides the most remarkable insights into seaweed research, specifically addressing its chemical composition, phytopharmacology, and cosmetic applications.

Antipollution skin protection - a new paradigm and its demonstration on two active compounds

Background

Urban pollution is a major source of concern for human health and is a complex of many environmental factors. The topical exposure to pollution activates cutaneous stress.

Objective

In this study, we tested the antipollution protection of two active components: Dead Sea minerals (Dead Sea mineral-rich water [DSW]) and anionic polysaccharide (PolluStop® [PS]).

Materials and methods

Two representative pollution models were studied using reconstructed epidermis: 1) mixture of pollutants (MOP) containing heavy metals and atmospheric particulate matter and 2) ozone exposure. DSW and PS were topically applied alone or in combination, and their protection against pollution was assessed by testing the levels of the inflammation markers interleukin 1α (IL-1α) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2).

Results

MOP exposure induced IL-1α release, which was attenuated following pre-application with DSW and PS alone or in combination. Ozone exposure induced IL-1α and PGE2 release. Pre-application with DSW or PS alone did not inhibit IL-1α and PGE2 overproduction. Only when DSW and PS were mixed together, inhibition of these inflammatory markers was observed.

Conclusion

The observations reveal the potential use of active agents in combination for a selective mode of protection from urban pollution. This is because many active materials cannot solely provide a broad protection against different types of pollutants. This strategy might be beneficial for future antipollution regimen formulated in both pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

3D surface roughness measurement for scaliness scoring of psoriasis lesions

Psoriasis is an incurable skin disorder affecting 2-3% of the world population. The scaliness of psoriasis is a key assessment parameter of the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). Dermatologists typically use visual and tactile senses in PASI scaliness assessment. However, the assessment can be subjective resulting in inter- and intra-rater variability in the scores. This paper proposes an assessment method that incorporates 3D surface roughness with standard clustering techniques to objectively determine the PASI scaliness score for psoriasis lesions. A surface roughness algorithm using structured light projection has been applied to 1999 3D psoriasis lesion surfaces. The algorithm has been validated with an accuracy of 94.12%. Clustering algorithms were used to classify the surface roughness measured using the proposed assessment method for PASI scaliness scoring. The reliability of the developed PASI scaliness algorithm was high with kappa coefficients>0.84 (almost perfect agreement).

Glove powder affects skin roughness, one parameter of skin irritation

Most patients with immediate-type-hypersensitivity to natural rubber latex (NRL) give a history of hand eczema. Susceptibility to allergens is increased by irritant hand eczema due to damage to the skin barrier. Therefore, especially for employees in medical or paramedical professions, reduction in skin irritation is of importance. The present study reports the effect of glove powder on skin roughness, one feature of skin irritancy. Skin replicas, performed before and after wearing different types of gloves, were evaluated by laser profilometry. Significant alteration of skin roughness was evident and determined by different factors. Use of unpowdered Biogel gloves on prepowdered hands results in an increase in skin roughness, in contrast to the use of Biogel gloves on hands without any pre-application. On the other hand, powdered Manex neoderm gloves show no influence on the skin structure, whereas powdered Peha taft gloves also increase the roughness of the skin. Other potential candidates causing skin morphology alteration could be the glove pH, rubber chemicals with irritant potential and other characteristics of gloves, which are already under investigation.